Development of a scale to measure awareness of one’s needs
Development of a scale to measure awareness of one’s needs

Summary/Abstract: Much research has addressed the question of what humans need in order to thrive, with recent research focusing on the fulfillment of basic psychological needs. However, much less attention has been given to the question of awareness of one’s needs-that is, identifying what one needs at a particular time and the extent to which one’s needs are being met. In principle, greater needs awareness could lead to the fulfillment of those needs. The present study designed and administered a scale to assess needs awareness in a series of studies. The first study examined the factor structure of the new scale, and determined which items best assessed the proposed construct. Additional administrations of the revised scale confirmed the internal consistency of the Needs Awareness Scale, demonstrated its strong test-retest reliability, and established the validity of the measure based on positive correlations with mindfulness and need fulfillment, and negative correlations with neuroticism, anxious attachment style, worry, fear of missing out, and social anxiety. These findings open the door for further avenues of inquiry, including the developmental antecedents of needs awareness, the causal role of this factor in affecting other variables, as well as ways to increase a person’s needs awareness.

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